Jim Goodwin watched Adama Sidibeh earn TWO red cards – before insisting the St Johnstone hot-head was lucky not to be dismissed even earlier.
Dundee United emerged from a feisty Tayside tussle with a 2-0 victory, with Luca Stephenson scoring his maiden senior goal before Jack Sanders headed into his own net.
And things went from bad to worse for the Saintees when Sidibeh was given his marching orders by referee Don Robertson, picking up a second yellow card after catching Will Ferry with an arm.
But Goodwin reckons an earlier push on Declan Gallagher – sending him barreling into United keeper Jack Walton – and a later clash with the Tangerines No.1 as they both sought to reach a cross were worthy of cautions.
“He (Sidibeh) had one in the first half when Jack (Walton) was coming to collect an easy ball and he pushed Declan Gallagher into him,” said Goodwin.
“In the second half, he caused another unnecessary collision and was lucky to not get a second yellow for that. It was dangerous. I didn’t think he had any chance of getting on the ball.
“It was ridiculous; really dangerous from the St Johnstone player. Jack Walton was always favourite and it was fortunate they didn’t clash heads. It could have been a lot more serious.”
The triumph – and second successive clean sheet – extends United’s unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions, while it represents a third defeat in four for the Saintees.
Raymond sitter
Barring a sequence of St Johnstone corners and Kristijan Trapanovski launching a volley from the edge of the box onto the roof of The Shed, there was a dearth of chances during an instantly forgettable opening 20 minutes.
The Tangerines almost shot themselves in the foot when keeper Walton – under pressure from Benji Kimpioka – surrendered possession to Saints midfielder Matt Smith. However, his audacious, 50-yard drive dropped wide.
With a dreary encounter seemingly heading towards a half-time stalemate, Stephenson played an errant, blind pass towards Walton.
That allowed Kimpioka to steal in, skip around the United goalie and, from a prohibitive angle, strike the base of the post. Only Andre Raymond will know how he contrived to loft the rebound over the bar from eight yards.
“The first half was scrappy from both teams, although St Johnstone were probably the better team,” noted Goodwin.
“We caused our own problems and put ourselves under unnecessary pressure with too many bad passes, and playing the ball backwards.
“So we told them to knock that on the head at half-time and we got the ball forward quicker.”
Stephenson strikes and Sidibeh sees red – twice
Only a wonderful stop from Walton – chasing a 25th clean sheet on his 50th outing for United – denied Graham Carey after the Saints midfielder skipped past Holt and unleashed a ferocious drive from distance.
The Terrors claimed the lead courtesy of a moment of much needed quality.
Trapanovski superbly hared past Sanders on the left flank before producing a pin-point delivery for compatriot David Babunski to hit the target. Josh Rae meekly parried the effort into the path of Stephenson, who slammed home.
“It was a great finish from Luca,” said Goodwin. “It wasn’t as easy a finish as he made it look. The ball was quite high, but he got his body over it.
“He’s been excellent since coming in. Defensively, he’s solid but also a really good attacking outlet for us. I’m delighted with him.”
Sidibeh challenge dubbed ‘ridiculous’
Sidibeh – largely well-marshalled by Ross Graham, Declan Gallagher and Emmanuel Adegboyega – rippled the side-netting with a speculative volley from 20 yards, fooling some Saintees into thinking parity had been restored.
Instead, the travelling fans in The Shed saw Sidibeh sent off after he was deemed to have hit Ferry with a stray arm as they competed for a high ball.
The Gambia international was then give a SECOND red following a VAR check after lashing out at Kevin Holt on his way off the pitch.
And United’s first win over St Johnstone at Tannadice since 2014 was assured when a Ross Graham long throw was headed into his own net by Sanders as Rae flapped.
Conversation